Tag: old self

29.m. “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you”

 

Colossians 3:5  Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

 Romans 6:6   We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

 James 4:1   What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

 Romans 1:18   For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

 Ephesians 2:2-3   in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

 1 Peter 1:14   As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

“put to death” is very strong and suggests that we are not simply to suppress or control evil acts and attitudes. We are to wipe them out, completely exterminate the old way of life.” (Vaughan) The sins mentioned in Colossians are a minimal list of the way the world lives and not the way Christians should ever live. Every Christian is faced with a question: “Who will I identify with, the world or with Jesus?” Who will you live for, self and its passions or for honoring and glorifying Jesus? Who will your serve, self or Jesus? When our eyes get pulled away from being focused on humbly serving, obeying, following, trusting, and relying on Jesus Christ something else comes into focus.  If our hearts and minds had eyes, are they intently looking for more knowledge and understanding and godly wisdom to grow and mature in how we live our lives so that Jesus Christ will be honored and glorified? Paul is saying “put to death” our former earthly, worldly, and fleshly desires and passions.  Don’t give them a hidden room in your heart or mind.  Don’t give them a place to reside. Baptism symbolizes putting to death such desires and being washed clean of their stain and guilt. Put these desires and passions to death.  The problem is that we don’t always put them to death.  We may bury them deep but we have not put them to death. Somehow they are able to dig their way back up to the surface of our mind and bring to life these old ways of living. The importance of God’s Word in our lives is very instrumental in how the Holy Spirit will guide us in discerning worldly and fleshly passions and desires in our lives.  I wonder if we truly even want to know such things.  Do we actually think we can live two separate lives, one serving fleshly and worldly desires and the other living to honor and glorify Jesus Christ? This is not possible.  Man cannot serve two masters and yet this is exactly what we try to do all the time.  We neglect God’s Word and by doing so we open ourselves up to blindly walking down paths of earthly desires and passions, unable to recognize we are.  Putting to death these earthly desires and passions do not mean Satan will not try to resurrect them into our lives. He continually tries.  It is only when we are intentionally committed to living to honor and glorify Jesus Christ with heart and mind deep desire to grow in knowledge and understanding of His grace, mercy, and love that we will be guided through life, by the Holy Spirit, and be able to mature in discerning the difference between earthly and godly living.

27.u. “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life”

 

Ephesians 4:20  But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

 Romans 6:6   We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

 Titus 3:3   For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

You have been outside in the hot sun working all day, sweating, and getting dirty.  You have been invited to a friend’s house for a bbq with others.  After working all day you need a shower and good washing.  When you dry off you put on the same old sweaty, stinky, dirty clothes you have been in all day and head out the door to meet up with your friends.  This makes no sense, does it? It would be foolish to think that just because you have had a shower your clothes would be clean and appropriate to wear.  

Numerous scriptures tell us; “Put off your old self”, “Our old self was crucified”, “Put on the new self”.  Why would we put on the same dirty, foul, disobedient, passions, and pleasures after we have been washed clean from all of these? Why would we think these are ok to “wear”?  Jesus Christ died to cleanse us from all of this.  Paul is saying, “why would you take the cleansing and go back to doing the very things that needed cleansing?”  This makes no sense. 

Once we are cleansed we do well to honor and glorify our “Cleanser” Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit has been given to every believer so that they can continue to grow in understanding and knowledge of the grace, mercy, and love that Jesus Christ poured out on us. When we desire this growth and seek it, we will not become complacent and neglectful in His Word, nor will we keep trying to put on our “Old Self”

26.x. “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”

Galatians 6:14  But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

 Philippians 3:3   For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

 Philippians 3:7-11     But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—  that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

 Romans 6:6    We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

 Colossians 3:1-3    If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

 1 John 5:4-5   For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Paul’s heart cared nothing for the glory that came from fame. He cared nothing for the glory that came from riches. He cared nothing for the glory that came from status and power among men. He only cared about the glory of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote about having crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Now with the flesh on the cross he also put the world on the cross, and considers himself dead to the world. The world could not have any influence over Paul if it were dead, and Paul could not respond to any influence from it if he were dead to the world. The world, in the sense Paul means it here, was not the global earth; nor was it the mass of humanity (which God Himself loves, John 3:16). Instead, it was the community of sinful humanity that is united in rebellion against God. (Guzik) 

The battle between fleshly/worldly and things of God is very real.  Sometimes it becomes hard to bring these two differences into focus. The fleshly and worldly make promises it can not keep (purpose, satisfaction, power, wisdom, honor, glory, worthiness).  These are promises filled with deceit.  As soon as some portion is reached, it fades as fast as it came. It consumes time, both physically and mentally.  It will rob your heart, exhausting your soul, and fill you with emptiness.  It presents itself as our friend who wants to fill our minds with what it thinks is important.  It gains foundational roots in our hearts from the minute we were born into this world.  It hides exposure by subtle watering and fertilization of the lusts and wants of our sinful nature.  It produces worthless sour and bitter fruit that fills the heart and mind but never satisfies. It convinces the heart and mind that it is sweet as honey and you want/need more of it.  

The greatest gift from God was His grace, mercy, and love found in and through Jesus Christ.  He offers salvation, redemption, and forgiveness to those who would believe, trust, repent and obey.  In His mercy, grace, and love He offers life more abundantly, a purpose for the heavenly, and the power of the Holy Spirit to discern and fight off/resist the fleshly/worldly.   Without discernment, it is very hard to recognize what is worldly and of the flesh.  To have discernment requires you to know the difference between what you see, hear, think, say, and do.  How is a person discern whether or not what they see, hear, think, say, and do is fleshly/worldly or godly/heavenly.  Every waking moment the eyes and ears to our hearts, minds, and souls are blasted with the worldly and fleshly. These fiery darts come at us every second of every moment.  Everyone is targeted.  Not a second goes by where there is not an attack on your soul.  The problem is having the ability to discern them.  God’s Word is our shield against the onslaught of lies and deception of the worldly/fleshly.  Yet, how many are prepared for the battle for their soul?  How many Christians bring up the Shield of His Word on Sundays but live every other day without its defense?  How many fiery darts have punched the heart and soul and the person is not even aware they are seriously wounded? Do we expect God to give us discernment when we neglect His Word?  It is through His Word we find true, hope, peace, strength, joy, love, and purpose and satisfaction for our soul.  The lies, false hopes and promises, fear, anger, anxiousness, worries, and the shallowness of what the flesh and worldly have to offer are exposed. It is not the spending of time reading His Word, but rather this with a pure foundation of seeking and desiring things of God to honor and glorify Him alone. We will never find the Holy Spirit giving discernment when the heart and mind are set on things of the flesh and this world.  How can we say the desires and promises of this world are crucified to me when we can’t even discern the difference between what it offers and things of God?

20.w. “Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!”

 

 

 

Romans 12:2   Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

J.B. Phillips translates this vs, Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the Plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

 Leviticus 18:30    So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”

 1 John 5:19     We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

 1 John 4:4-5   Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.  They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.

 1 Corinthians 3:19    For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”

 1 John 2:15-17    Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

 Ezekiel 18:31    Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!

 Ephesians 4:22-24   to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,  and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

 Colossians 3:10   and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

 Psalms 34:8   Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

God’s word warns us that the “world system” – the popular culture and manner of thinking that is in rebellion against God – will try to conform us to its ungodly pattern, and that process must be resisted. The battleground between conforming to the world and being transformed is within the mind of the believer. Christians must think differently.  “I don’t want to be conformed to this world. I want to be transformed. How do I do it?” By the renewing of your mind. The problem with many Christians is they live life based on feelings, worthy are only concerned about doing. The life based on feeling says, “How do I feel today? How do I feel about my job? How do I feel about my wife? How do I feel about worship? How do I feel about the preacher?” This life by feeling will never know the transforming power of God, because it ignores the renewing of the mind.  The life based on doing says, “Don’t give me your theology. Just tell me what to do. Give me the four points for this and the seven keys for that.” This life of doing will never know the transforming power of God, because it ignores the renewing of the mind.  God is never against the principles of feeling and doing. He is a God of powerful and passionate feeling and He commands us to be doers. Yet feelings and doing are completely insufficient foundations for the Christian life. The first questions cannot be “How do I feel?” or “What do I do?” Rather, they must be “What is true here? What does God’s Word say?” “How do I apply this or how does it apply to my life.” “What is in my heart and mind?” “How do I discern the intents and purposes of my actions?” “What things in this world are contrary to things of God?”

God’s Word must be more than do’s and do not’s.  This would never transform a person from the inside.  Meditation on God’s Word, however, will transform us.  The problem is that we too often fall into the trap of only listening to what others have meditated on.  We listen to our pastors on Sunday. We listen to radio preachers throughout the week.  We may form opinions based on what they have said.  We may even try to remember the three or four points they tell us are important.  When is the last time we spent in God’s Word, asked God to give us wisdom and understanding, and meditated upon it?  I must admit, very seldom, when our pastor is preaching, am I fully listening.  I read the passage from which he is preaching. I cross-reference to other verses.  I think about what God is revealing to me and then I give thought to this throughout the day.  Some thoughts will stay throughout the week with me while I think about it and try to make sense of it.  At the end of the day we are renewed and transformed in how we think, act, and do, by our thoughts and meditation on God’s Word.  It is a shallow commitment to God when we spend no time meditating on His Word.  

19.n. “Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Romans 6:1  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

 2 Corinthians 5:17   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

 Ephesians 4:17   Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

 Ephesians 4:22-24  to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,  and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

 1 John 2:6   whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

 Colossians 1:10-12    so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;  being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

 Philippians 3:17-18    Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.  For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

 Romans 13:13-14     Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

“That we too might walk in newness of life.”  “Behold the new has come.” “He is a New Creation.” Renewed in the spirit of your minds.” “Put on the new self.” “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.” “Let us walk properly as in the daytime.”  What does it mean to walk properly and in a manner worthy of the Lord?  The easiest way to think about answering this is to know what sin is and to know what is pleasing to God. How do we know what sin is?  Do we know it by instinct?  Do we instinctively know what is good and bad – right and wrong – true and false?  Unfortunately, we do not instinctively know, but through our upbringing and our culture, we determine what is socially acceptable.  If something is socially or culturally acceptable is it good, right, and true? – (Maybe)  If it is socially and culturally acceptable can it still be sin? – (absolutely)  Someone said wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it, and right is right if there is only one doing it.  

If we base our rights, wrongs, and truths on what is culturally acceptable then we can easily fall prey to doing what is sin in God’s eyes.  There is only one place we gain insight into what is good, right, and true.  That is in God’s word.  He is steadfast.  His Word is true. His promises are true.  He is truth. There is no falsehood in Him. If we want to know what is true, right, good, and honorable then we need to not only spend time in His Word but also spend time with Him in prayer.  Jesus said that out of the abundance of our heart our mouth speaks.  If we are only feeding our heart with a token stab at daily devotions then His Word will not abide in us but rather pass through us as if we were empty vessels.  There must be a heart-deep desire connected to our seeking of what is true, good, and right.  There must be a hunger and thirst.  If there is stagnate “life” flowing through your veins and if there is a neglect of God’s Word in your day, and if there is a foggy haze to your understanding of what is good, right, and true in God’s eyes, then repent and turn away from this right now.  You are a new creation that has been born with the newness of life through Jesus Christ.   Jesus did not die for you so that you could keep on sinning but rather so that you would choose to intentionally live to honor and glorify Him alone. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.